sweeps of black and gold
by persona-alacarte
Summary: The two rivals have come thus far. In their sixth year, things start to come alive. Why, and what does design and technology have to do with anything? Draco and Hermione fiction. Try to tell me your thoughts.
1. Are you sure that's you?

A/N: I should be doing the normal disclaimer and la di da, so I will, just for the sake of unspoken tradition. I do NOT own

anything except for the style of my writing and of course, the plot line itself. I hope that satisfies you conventional people

out there. Just want to say that my chapters will be quite long…I think, and a lot. I just want to thank Carissa Loh for

being my editor and Denise Chong for being the logical bit of the publication. Oh, and this story is set in Year Five,

without the Half-blood Prince in it. And of course, do you see that lil' button at the bottom? Yeah, that one. Hit it hard

with your mouse then start telling me what you think of this.

Chapter 1:

**Are you sure that's you? Hermione**

I stared out of the carriage window, bumping up and down as the rusty old train rattled about. My outstretched legs shifted

uncomfortably as they lengthened out to the seat adjacent to mine. I emitted a tiny, almost inaudible grunt of satisfaction,

and rested my curly locks (and my head of course) on the cold, metal window pane. Yawning not so discreetly, I looked

down at my attire, wondering and pondering if it was indeed appropriate for meeting Professor Dumbledore later on. Who

knew what that guy wanted? _(Maybe I should introduce to you MY opinion on Professor Dumbledore. All you've heard _

_for the past six books were Harry Potter's idea and impression of him. Now **I **am in the spotlight and I am solely _

_determined make full advantage of it. I think Professor Dumbledore is as nutty as a nut-filled fruitcake. It's something _

_you would enjoy to eat, unless you despise sweet delicacies and the nuts, which are full of nutrition, are like Professor _

_Dumbledore's knowledge. A lot and good for you to know as well. And like the nuts in the fruitcake, they are widely _

_spread, like his intelligence. They range from the comprehension of how a Dementor's Kiss is performed to the _

_fascinating and tantalizing flavor of his favourite Lemon Drops .Aren't I an analogical person.)_ I donned a personal

preference of a shirt I had designed in my own lonely time. It was a normal black T-shirt, but with a blazing white pirate's

skull in the centre, for the whole world to observe. Beautiful. I had cut part of it off, so that it came up only to my navel,

where a spiky, silver belly ring rested. The edge of the t-shirt was jagged and all curled up, as if a pair of bewitched shears,

bent on ruining whatever it could, had launched an attack on them. Well actually, that **was** what had happened and

accidentally ended up looking like this, but who needs to know that? And besides, I rather liked this style. It suited my pale

complexion and also brought out my woody brown eyes. Following downwards, I wore a pair of hipster pants, which were

not the normal denim blue colour, but rather a rather "off-ish" shade of maroon. They hugged my hip bone tightly, and

then broadened as it came to the last bit of the thigh, and generally loosened out to a sort of flowing bottom. I had

enchanted it so that green, crackling flames danced about on one side of the jeans, without the sound and heat of course.

God knows if I could live with that. I had on black Converse sneakers and I myself had again made the pattern on it, which

was a few flaming eyeballs rolling around. I was quite proud of it, to say the least. Reddish-orange blazes really stood out

from the black. _(A/N: now, I'm assuming that all of us here are muggles and we all know what black Converse shoes _

_look like. Completely black with white at the toe area and as the sole. And of course, the trademark star of Converse, _

_except take the star away and replace it with eyeballs on fire.)_ I had applied yellow glitter glue on the white laces, so

now it was a sparkly sunshine colour. Perfect. A black chain ringed my neck, with a tiny teardrop of aquamarine as a

pendant. Over the summer, I had dyed my chestnut brown hair jet black and went wild with colours. Literally. I streaked

my hair with copper highlights. Bold, but not enough for them to be banned from Hogwarts. For some unfathomable

reason, I had attached two spiralled wooden earrings to my ears and now the weight was killing me. Other than looking

nice, it had nothing worth wearing it. They were dragging my head down and for that I despised them. Obviously, I wore

my heavy robes over my clothes, in case I was marred from entering the train due to indecent exposure. However, I did not

bother to tug it tight around me, and the front of my clothes could still be seen.

I heard footsteps echoing down the long aisle in the train, opening each carriage door then none too subtly slamming them

shut. I hastily snapped on a frozen mask of indifference, as I was a hundred percent certain that the person in question

would open this door too. Well, ninety-nine percent. Does it make a difference? I thought so too. I breathed calmly

through my mouth, inhaling deeply. Despite my cool exterior, my heart was thudding hard inside. Could it be Harry and

Ron who were looking for me? Maybe they finally realised what they had done, and came back to grovel. I scoffed silently.

I wished and I wished hard. A tear ran down my cheek, thinking of what our friendship had come to. At that moment, the

carriage door flew open with a resounding bang, and my head immediately snapped to face the window again; I'd be

damned if I would let anyone see me spill tears. There was a long and daunting silence. Who it was, I could only guess, for

I had not turned around yet.

"Mudblood, nice to see you again. Which teacher did you suck up to this time? Or else you would never have gotten to be

Head Girl." I heard an all too familiar voice drawl. Good voice, I'd give Malfoy that, but horrendous personality. Hearing

the nickname he had deemed me as brought back memories. Ah… the good old memories. The name affected me but I

never let anyone know that. I laughed along, but it never really struck me as funny when Ron said it was better than being a

Pureblood. I stiffened my stomach to stop myself from getting up and doing something really nasty. I simply made a hum

of acknowledgement and fell silent thereafter. I could almost see him frowning in utmost confusion behind me, and that

image nearly brought on a fit of giggles, because it would have been awesome to see him bewildered. However, I did not

wish to spoil the effect of my position now, and did not turn back. My peace was kept, and was well deserved when he

finally replied.

"Mudblood, you give yourself too much credit to think that you can ignore me. So do you and me a favour and get out of

this carriage." He tried a bored voice. Prior to his knowledge, I would never leave the seat if my life depended on it. My

stomach clenched again to hear him use that word, yet I repudiated to punch him or hex him and contented myself by

responding with an effortless 'mm' sound, and returned to the gazing of the window. Now I could tell he was getting

annoyed and frustrated. I was confident that he could not penetrate my sheet of armour. He sighed in defeat and grumbled

ominously under his breath as he sat down next to my legs. I was, to say the least, shocked. I had not expected that yours

truly would have given up so easily. In response to his sitting down, I fidgeted a bit and tucked a stray strand of hair behind

my ear. I could feel him sink down next to my legs as the material heaved up and then settled down again. Then ,I heard a

thump next to my body and was aware of the fabric once more swelling up then coming down. I narrowed my eyes. Now

what did he do? Casting my eyes to the side, I was horrified to see something there. His stupid foot.

Cast of the story says: (Draco) Darn it! Whoever said I gave up so easily? And besides, why the heck would I want to sit

next to the Mudblood?

Cast of story says: (Hermione) Yeah! Whatever do you think you're doing? Making me sit with a ferret…and what's going

to happen next? And since when were flaming eyeballs nice? Actually, they are…grins sheepishly

Distraughtsenses says: rolls eyes Both of you, shut your traps. You shall find out later…


	2. Who do you think you are?

A/N: So guys, how was the first chapter? I don't expect you to say anything other than THAT WAS GREAT! I'm kidding,

as you fundamentally should know. Say whatever you want. Constructive criticism is preferred above all other things, no

wait…not above compliments though. What I'm really afraid of, though, is if the spacing is too small and it is difficult to

read. Report please….same disclaimer, same old thing so don't bother me. Inspiration comes and goes.

Chapter 2:

**Who do _you _think you are? Draco **

I swore that was not the same girl who I had loathed for the last five years. She had changed every bit of her. A comment

like "Mudblood" last year would have made her blown her top, but this year I said it twice and all I got is a twitching in

her gut. No fair. I loved taunting and torturing her. Well, not really I guess, it was more of a pastime. I mean, which

Mudblood couldn't get away without a Malfoy mocking her? Something of routine. Yes, that was right. A routine.

Something that had to be done. I guess I liked watching people's reactions. See them get mad at you, ah…the pleasures of

humans.

Since she could not see me due to her excessive watching of the frosty windows, I took the opportunity to study her hard.

God, she had transformed so much…From a minute teacher's pet with absolutely no shape to a dark angel with a very

distinctive figure. I noticed the ball of pointy thing she displayed oh-so-valiantly on her belly. I recognized it as what the

muggles referred to as a…a belly ring. I thought that was quite inventive of muggles. I mean, which wizard could have

come up with the idea of that? Contrary to popular belief, I really did not mind muggleborns. They were quite nice to

know actually, very intellectual. I wondered how they survive without magic, but somehow they did and that made them

remarkable. _Don't tell my father I said that though. My father will have nothing whatsoever to do with muggleborns. _

_He **is** the right-hand man of the Dark Lord after all. Well I think I should explain to the sticky situation of my father _

_then. It's only right to let my fans know about me. Right? **(A/N: note that Draco Malfoy is a very high on his horse **_

_**kind of guy and that wouldn't be changing that much in this story. If you're expecting a love story with Draco **_

_**Malfoy suddenly going soft and becoming Hermione's wagging tailed dog, your expectations are going to be highly **_

_**disappointed. Love story I can promise you, but please not the softy bit.)** My father is a very strict man, as I'm sure all _

_of you know, and he occasionally has the urge to pummel me here and there. What do you think I got Quidditch _

_muscles for? I am not allowed to defy him, yes, but I can actually block myself from feeling the hits by building up my _

_physique. Hopefully, one day I can stop him from doing so all together. You may think that as the child of a semi-_

_abusive father, I will naturally hate him, but that is as far away from the truth as you can get. I hmm…how do I put _

_this? Well, we have a mutual understanding and that's all we need to know each other and respect each other. I feel _

_for my father, because to the shock of all of you, Lucius Malfoy does not like the Dark Lord at all. Oh no, many a times _

_my father would come back from death eater meetings and complain to me about the abuse he has to take. He warns _

_me never to get caught in the dark arts, but how can that be so? I will get killed. So I have to. My father may hate _

_muggleborns, but he has no intentions to kill anyone. My father only became a death eater when my harsh and _

_eccentric grandfather forced him into the circle of it because my grandfather liked the name "Voldermort". Crazy fool. _

_Now because of his preference, the whole Malfoy bloodline is going to be condemned to a life of serving Voldermort. _

_Hate him and I hate him bad. And that's the end of the story and they all live happily ever after. The end.)_

Now back to the story. Too much rambling. I glanced at her belly again. Granger had been exercising hadn't she? I could

see well-defined bumps of muscle on her stomach. Not bad really, for a Mudblood. My eyes traced the surface of her

stomach up to her chest. I could not resist a slight smirk. Granger had grown in the right places…Black went well with her

as well; it made her ashen complexion very nearly glow. The rusty red highlights in her hair brought out her extremely

unique eye color, an oak-like hue. My eyes automatically trailed down to her lips. Against the sunlight, the contour of her

plush lips was accentuated, and it shone.

I dismissed these thoughts casually, putting it up to teenage raging hormones. After all, Granger was still Granger and how

she looked made no difference to me; she was still a know-it-all who put even the legendary Potter to shame. Oh yes,

speaking of Potter, where were the two squirrel-faced freaks, Potter and Weasley? Last **I **had heard, Potty was known as

Lightning. Maybe his over-eager sidekick called himself thunder. Dear God knew he was loud enough to be deemed that.

Weasley. I mentally shook my head mock-sorrowfully. Poor guy, and not only metaphorically too. He was dirt poor and

his house was probably the shabbiest in the wizarding world. He might have flourished under the Dark Lord, as my father

once confessed. Hey, we had to give Weasley some credit, at least he was smarter than Crabbe and Goyle combined…but

that was not saying much too…

Snapping out of my pointless reverie, I decided to kill the limitless time and irritate the devil out of Granger. It was fun

seeing her squirm. So, feeling particularly mild before warming up to my extraordinarily imaginative ideas, I just placed

my feet, along with the shoes as well, on the seat net to her body on the whole, exceedingly hard. I watched as the seat rose

and fell gracefully, bumping poor, sad Granger along **not** so gracefully. Her eyes widened in aggravation, furrowing her

brow in frustration. I saw the battle raging in her eyes: should she keep up the façade or should she just explode. I prayed it

would be the latter. The cold shoulder treatment was getting to me. Contrary to my wishes, she just scowled lightly and

went back to window- watching. Dang. Heaving a dramatic sigh, I started tapping my heels on the floor, making annoying

clicking noises, which even I admit was getting on my nerves after a little while, and besides, my feet were getting tired

and painful. I guess Granger knew that too, because I saw a hint of a smirk on her face when I took a break, and it vanished

when I started up again, instead replaced by an expression of a little exasperation.

Unable to keep up my good work, I stamped down once, ferociously, causing the carriage to shake a little. She made a

minute, almost indiscernible, 'tsk-ing' sound and flinched. I waited in silence for her reaction.

All of a sudden, she slid out of her bizarre-looking shoes and wriggled her toes. I stared at them apprehensively. What was

she doing? Were her evil little toes doing wandless magic? Was this a new spell? Was she muttering funny-sounding

words? She reached over to my feet, which were still stinging from the blow, and I winced involuntarily, my panic

heightening with every centimeter she drew closer. Was she going to put me under a spell? Instead, a shadow of a smile

flitted across her face as she used her feet to undo the laces of my muggle Adidas shoes, which my mother made me wear

because they were "good shoes", as she insisted, and anyway, they were on promotion. Buy one get one free. Women.

Come to think of it, they **were** quite comfortable.

By then, Granger had pulled off my shoes and socks and were toe-strangling mine. Ah…now I understood…she wanted

me **that** way… _(A/N: see how conceited he is?)_I sneered. Of course, who wouldn't? Her cool and dry feet rubbed against

mine, massaging the in-between bits slowly. Then, as slowly as she had started up, she halted and put her sneakers back on.

Slightly disappointed, I made to put mine back on too, but she beat me. With astounding effort (though I wasn't about to

admit it), she let out a grunt of exertion and stomped down on my innocent twiddling toes. Oh Holy Merlin! They hurt so

bad…they were on fire…I groaned and whimpered, caressing them and glowering at Granger simultaneously. Then, the

door banged open. We whipped around and stared at the intruding person.

Cast of the story says: (Draco) Oh my poor dear feet. Distraughtsenses, must you **really **make me suffer like this?

Distraughtsenses says: Of course. Where would be the fun in not?

Cast of the story says: (Draco) Oh but they ache…

Distraughtsenses says: That sucks for you…

Cast of the story says: (Hermione) Haha! Thank you Distraughtsenses…

Distraughtsenses says: You're very welcome, I enjoyed that too.


	3. Men just don't understand you

A/N: This chapter is going to be short and sweet, and is dedicated to a person I know who is a feminist. I portray Draco as

a chauvinistic person in this chapter, from the view of Hermione. And what does the lunch lady have to do with this? Read

and hopefully click that thing at the bottom.

Chapter 3: **Men just don't understand you** Hermione

executed my plan perfectly. Needless to say, I was superbly proud of myself for thinking of such and ingenious idea and

more than elated that Malfoy fell for it **and **got injured. Oh today just **had** to be my day. I was burning with triumphant

fire on the inside when the carriage door flew open yet **again**. I sighed. Why was it that everyone was attracted to me

today? Then, I felt a spasm of fear. What if Crabbe and Goyle heard the commotion and because they drank a intelligence

potion was smart enough to come running to beat me up?

"Please don't let it be Crabbe and Goyle, Sweet Merlin, help me…" I pleaded internally, for now the only help I could get

was from the heavens above.

"I swear I won't steal Mummy's cookies anymore…" I bargained with Fate. And Lady Luck was on my side.

"Dearies, would you like anything from the…oh dear, are you quite alright?" the lunch lady enquired concernedly, looking

at Malfoy clutching his precious toes, but with a tad more than a bit of curiosity than necessary. I thought fast, I needed the

lunch lady to be my ally, or Malfoy would tell everyone that I was not smart enough to fool the lunch lady. That would be

more than enough humiliation that I would need.

"Well you see-," Malfoy started to reply but I quickly cut in, in fear of the consequences afterwards.

"Well, you see, Mr. Malfoy here came banging about the aisle of the train and I got a little frustrated so I told him to stop

it because I was concerned for others who were sleeping. But he thought that I wanted to talk to him, so he came in and sat

down. I really didn't mind, because I respect Professor Dumbledore's decision of intertwining the two houses, so I let him

stay there quietly," I talked fast and earnestly, as if I was still the most gullible girl in the world, but inside I was grinning

wickedly and mocking Malfoy. I could tell he knew what I was doing and tried to get a word in edgewise while I took a

deep breath but I would not let him. Oh no, I was **not **going to let him spoil my fun. So I launched into another tirade with

the lunch lady nodding sympathetically.

"How was I to know that he would not cooperate, and he kept talking to me, disturbing my train of thoughts every so

often, and I really couldn't concentrate. Then, I **politely** told him not to talk to me just for a little bit so I could finish my

book but he did not listen!" I shook my head wistfully, pouting just a little bit, with the lunch lady smiling understandingly

and glaring at Malfoy at the same time. "Ha! Take that, Malfoy!" I sneered in my heart. I was not done yet, oh no, not by a

**long** shot.

"So I just ignored him, it was difficult but I tried and succeeded! Then, because he could not get my attention, he pushed

me slightly. I frowned, but did not say anything. Then, he pushed me a teensy bit harder and I tried to stop him, so I put a

hand out to stop myself, but I didn't know that he grabbed onto me, and everything happened so fast I don't know what

happened but poor Mr. Malfoy jammed his toes on the floor, where the seat meets the floor. I tried to stop him, I swear I

did! He blames me for letting him fall. I know I wasn't quick enough and I'm sorry!" I wailed, a few tears in my eyes. God,

I was a good actress. I bowed my head down, as if expecting a punishment, but glancing upwards, I could just see the lunch

lady scowling at Malfoy with evident disapproval. Malfoy did not say anything, but his face darkened considerably. Oops.

There was going to be much to pay for. But for now, I would just enjoy myself when he was in no position to murder me.

"Young lady, it's quite alright. Mr. Malfoy has no right to blame you, it's alright…here, take a few chocolate frogs, I'm

sure you'll feel better. No need to pay dearie, anything to stop you from thinking it's your fault. You know what? Take a

few packets of Bertie's Every-flavored Beans too. It'll do you good. Men of today. Chauvinistic people! They imagine

they can boss the females around, but they can't! Now is not like last time, like the Greeks, where females were only used

as tools of reproduction! I'll have you know, young man, that a lot of the most powerful people in the world are females!

S' don't you boss people too!" She ended up hissing at him, then taking her trolley, smiling an apologetic smile at me and

saying "Sorry for frightening you, love", and then she left. What a shame. I would really have enjoyed more of that. Now

to face **him**. Trying to deal with him conveniently, I cheerfully piped up, "Don't tell me you didn't deserve that!" and went

out of the carriage for the prefects' meeting, whistling happily.

I heard him scramble behind me, obviously infuriated. I **also** heard him trying to put on his shoes and hop after me at the

same time. I would have been deaf not to hear the booming thud as he fell to the floor. Smirking ever so slightly, I

continued to make my way to the prefects' carriage, with a floundering Malfoy trying to catch up with me. I could hear

sniggers as people passed him, and the wicked me, just let him deal with it. The pleasures of life.

Until, I rounded a bend, and there stood the two people I waspleading the heavensnot to meet. Them.

Cast of the story says: (Draco) ooh perfect. Now my reputation is ruined. Why do you take such pleasure in torturing me?

Is it because I'm a male? Hmm?

Distraughtsenses says: Evidently. Obviously.

Cast of the story says: (Draco) So you prefer females don't you?

Distraughtsenses says: Naturally. Fundamentally.

Cast of the story says: (Draco) Are you a female?

Distraughtsenses says: Clearly. Unmistakably.

Cast of the story says: (Hermione) I love you.

Distraughtsenses says: Thank you.


	4. Oh It's you

A/N: So. So. So. How was that? I like this story…my plan is to reach the 40, 000 word limit in one or two months time.

Do you think that is possible? I can write in school during break and spare time. Those writers who have written that far,

can you tell me if it is indeed possible? Thanks. Should I do away with the little conferencing session at the end of each

chapter? And the last time I forgot to put the disclaimer. Anyway, one for then and one for now. Goodbye. Harry and Ron

comes into the story. Why do they hate Hermione?

Chapter 4: **0h.It's you. Hermione**

I halted in my tracks, just baldly staring at the two figures in front of me. I could hear Malfoy behind me, stumbling along,

until he was beside me and fell silent, looking at the two of them and me with interest. I shut my eyes tight, willing myself

to keep under control. I would not succumb to them. Again replacing my look of satisfaction with a veil of coldness, I

opened my lids and gazed at them, waiting for them to start world war three.

"Granger. What are you doing here?" Harry asked, concealing his true feelings as well. I could feel three pairs of eyes

staring at me, waiting for my response.

"Same as you. Going to Hogwarts." I replied coolly, my face stiff and blank. Inside, I was surprised at the similarity

between him and Malfoy. Malfoy covered up a laugh by coughing loudly. Ron's ears started to turn red, a sure indication

that he was getting angry. On the outside, I remained cool and collected but I just wanted to cry and weep in front of all of

them. Why? Why did it have to come to this? I just wanted to help them that time and this was what I got in return? Our

friendship was irrevocably damaged, and nothing would bring us back to what we once were.

"Trying to be smart? Granger, you are sadly mistaken if you consider yourself clever. Even your mother was more

intelligent compared to you; she was smart enough to leave you." Ron shot back, sneering widely. The area became deathly

silent. Harry arched his head, as though mortified by himself. Malfoy did not dare to make a sound, instead choosing to

glare at the floor. Only Ron was looking at me as if he had won the lottery. How insensitive could he get? I knew that I

was about to lunge at him and tackle him till his body was black and blue, but I would never be able get to be Head Girl if

I ever did that, and besides, I did not want to do anything irrational which I would regret later on. So I clenched my fists

until they dug into my own flesh painfully, and my knuckles turned white. I steeled my voice and responded, with but a

quaver in my voice.

"I see no relevance between my mother and how smart I am. I see no way that you should be concerned with my private

affairs. I also see nothing between my mother's questionable intellect and this problem. I also don't see how you were

smart enough to get into this school!" I gritted my teeth and stared defiantly into his brown eyes. He sputtered; for I had

just insulted his intelligence, but I bet even Harry thought he deserved it.

Before Ron could respond, another voice cut in coolly.

"As much as I would like to see you kick Granger's butt here, we both have a prefectorial meeting that we have to attend

to, which of course, you would never be able to join, as Granger has mentioned, your level of intelligence is not up to

standard. With that I bid you goodbye. Granger?" I whirled around, stunned that Malfoy had attempted to get me out of a

sticky situation. My eyes must have shown astonishment, because he just shrugged non-commitally and turned to leave.

Making it a priority to thank Malfoy afterwards, I jogged to his side, leaving two gaping boys behind.

As we strolled leisurely down the aisle, I wondered if Malfoy had an ulterior motive to extracting me from the

predicament. It could not have been because of the meeting because it started in forty-five minutes, so that was off the list.

Maybe he wanted to get me out to beat me bad himself. I did not think so; he knew the best way to torture me was to leave

me in their presence. (though he **had** to admit I was doing pretty fine by myself.) So that was probably eliminated too.

However, I could not take my mind off something I saw in his eyes when he briefly glanced at me. Pity. He had looked at

me with pity. I wanted to crack right now. I wanted to scream at him that I did not need his pity. I was doing perfectly well,

darn it! Of all people, I would have expected Malfoy to understand, what with his abusive father. I thought he had known

that pity would never change anything. Pity would never be something useful. Why did nobody look at me with

understanding? Look at me with understanding and help me get past this time. I sighed wearily, and Malfoy looked at me

again, surprised. He remained silent though, and for that I as appreciative. In that way, Malfoy was brilliant. He knew when

you needed privacy and respected it. I smiled a full-on smile at him, hoping he would not catch it. Oops. Too late. His eyes

widened, steel eyes temporarily melting into liquid silver. Then he caught himself, and just pursed his lips, gave a half-

hearted, flashed, lop-sided grin and looked away. I was, to say the least, astounded. Malfoy? Smile? I shook my head

furiously. Not possible. Anyhow, I let my mind wander…that **was **a pretty amazing grin…Oh god! What was I thinking?

This was my archenemy, my rival! My NEMESIS. I exhaled deeply, attracting yet another stare from him, and thought

about something not insulting to my memory. Like hamburgers. Yes, hamburgers were delicious. Why not-BAM! Holy

crud! What was that? I collided head on with something rock solid and flew backwards. I closed my eyes, anticipating the

rough surface of the floor. But it never came. _(A/N: Ha! I know what you are all thinking- you think that Malfoy held _

_her up didn't you? You were rolling your eyes because you thought it was so clichéd weren't you? I knew it. Well read _

_on, Life is full of surprises. And besides, ask all my friends, I am a highly unpredictable girl and my writing takes after _

_my personality. By the way, do you like those clichéd stories? I hope not, because this will not be one. I keep telling _

_you what this story is not, but I never tell you what it is. Well, this is a story of designing. You will understand later on. _

_Anyway, in other fanfiction stories, the character Draco Malfoy always softens a lot. But this one will not. Hermione _

_will not become bad, but they will have an in-between sort-of relationship. Like a limbo dance. Welcome to the grey _

_era.)_

Confounded, I tried to frown. Note the word tried. My muscles felt frozen up and I could not move an inch. Trying to

hoist myself up, I tried to move my hand, but failed to do so yet again. What was happening? Then, like all the movies say,

realization dawned upon me. The little bugger Malfoy had frozen me! Ooh…the moment somebody let me go, I was going

to castrate him…Malfoy advanced closer, a tiny smirk on his smug face. He leant down next to my ear. My senses tingled

and goosebumps started popping up. Now what was he up to? I tried to glare at him, but of course, in vain.

"You know, I think I like you this way…" he trailed off suggestively. Internally shuddering, I stared straight ahead,

wishing someone would come. I could hear him chuckle in satisfaction. Oh god…just let me at him…He was going to be

hacked to death so fast you wouldn't even see it happen…He pointed his wand at me. I suddenly realized that I was

completely vulnerable. A spasm of panic ran through me, and I mutely screamed. What did I get myself into? That was it, I

was officially about to be murdered. I already wrote my will, some things went to mom and dad. Oh dear. The rest went to

Harry and Ron…that had to be changed.

"_Finite incantenum." _I fell to the floor, blood rushing through my veins and I collapsed with my hair splayed out on the

cold ground and my skimpy clothes on full display. I lay there, shocked into immobility. It seemed that Malfoy was just as

startled as I was. But by what? Oh…my clothes. Maybe I had to wear more of these… I got up, brushing invisible lint off

my clothes.

"Look Malfoy, I know that my clothes are cool, but you don't have to gawk you know." I sniffed, aloof, trying to redeem

what little dignity I had left. He blushed.

"Erm…it's not your…ahem…clothes, it's your…urm…" he trailed off again, gesturing at his left pelvic bone. I just

gaped blankly at him, wondering what he was trying to tell me. I looked at my own pelvic bone, and gasped in horror. Oh

dear lord.

Cast of story says: (Draco) what? What? What was it? Tell me, tell me!

Distraughtsenses says: Erm…Draco, in the story you already know…

Cast of story says: (Draco) oh, yeah.

Cast of story says: (Hermione) freak. Stupid freak.

Distraughtsenses says: Now now kids, don't quarrel.


	5. I told you so

A/N: Okay! So guess what's coming up? A configured Dark Mark? You'll never know unless you read! I have to go before I'm caught for doing a crime by using the computer, so I have a lot to say but later, the next chapter, okay? Well, you don't have a choice.

**Chapter 5: I told you so Draco**

For a moment, I gaped at her in sheer bewilderment, and then I looked at the mysterious 'thing' in question again. It must have been quite a while, because she caught me staring

at her hip and she must have thought I was some sort of perverted freak because she frowned disapprovingly and blushed profusely.

"Look Malfoy, I know my clothes are cool but you don't have to gawk." Granger drawled in an insolent tone uncannily similar to my own. I didn't really want to embarrass

her that bad, and besides, it was a sensitive area. Literally (on her body). Oh dear. This was not going to be easy telling her. I flushed slightly, (not a lot; Malfoys **never** blush a lot.)

and cleared my throat nervously. She just stared at me uncomprehendingly, with a look of impatience and a tinge of curiosity on her face. I fidgeted restlessly, and bounced on each

foot. Come on, you had to give me some credit…I was a guy after all. How did you explain to a banshee-like woman that her pants were slipping down inch by inch without getting

thumped hard on the head?

"Urm…it's not your clothes, it's your…ahem…" I trailed off lamely, unable to carry on, and merely swept my icy-cold fingers past my left pelvic bone. She just quirked her

eyebrow and unconcernedly looked down, probably thinking it was a joke. Until she saw what I saw.

Frankly, if I did not have a Malfoy reputation to hold up, I would have outright confessed that it wasn't bad actually. Unfortunately, I **was, **after all, a Malfoy and therefore had to

uphold the name. So to get the money. Nah, I was kidding. But it's true.

Anyway, I stared at it steadily, dissecting each bit and studying it in detail. It was a depiction of elegance, a more dignified show of colors. On Granger's bone lay a tattoo of a

motherly deer, resting lazily on a clump of autumn leaves, her face a picture of peace and rest. Behind her, her young doe was prancing about elatedly, a satisfied yet inquisitive

expression on her face. (How ironic.) Their skins were like a chestnut coat draped across their haunches, sleek and shiny. They were blotted with tiny spots of white, a speckle of

color, like drips of paint on skin. The trees around them were different hues of oranges and reds, with the occasional brown of branches peeking out behind the leaves. The sun was

a golden orb just above the horizon, spreading its warm rays. You could just make out minute grains of sand flying up from the ground, which was a crumbly base, like an apple

crumble. Yum…

My detailed analysis was rudely interrupted when Granger hitched up her offending pants, her cheeks now a violent scarlet. Had I found out about it through other less awkward

means, I would have laughed in disbelief that Granger had a tattoo. But…but there it was. If I reached out, I could touch it. Granger quickly spun around her heel, her jaw clenched

tightly in embarrassment. I shrugged nonchalantly; if she wanted to play dumb, then so would I. We both marched back in the direction we were coming from, and I would bet my

bottom Galleons that she had no clue as to where she was heading. So, just to humour myself, I branched off into a carriage, flinging the door open and, dusting the, well, dust off

the seat, I sat down. I waited patiently, sniggering under my breath, waiting till she finally grasped the fact that I was gone.

And sure enough, five seconds later, I heard footsteps stalking back, and coming to a halt in front of the door. I smirked, knowing that she had no choice to enter. Prior to my

previous belief (sorry, I like that phrase), she just stood there calmly, not moving a tiny bit. I knew she had not gone, because firstly, there were no more footsteps and secondly, I

wasn't blind and I saw the shadow.

Now really puzzled as to why she did not make her million-dollar entrance, I slowly crept to the door, and suddenly whipped it open to startle her. I guess what goes around comes

around Fate decided to pay me back. Instead of her being shaken, I myself was stunned, in a negative way. A ball of blond hair and pallid skin hurled herself at me, cooing sweet

nothings into my ear and stroking the small of my back. I groaned with remorse. Not her…please Dear Merlin…anyone but her. Pansy Parkinson, the girl who thought herself the

equivalent of Aphrodite in looks. Of course, her self-perceptions were deluded. Looking like a not so distant cousin of the bulldog species, she thought way too highly of herself. As

her hands brushed the plush velvet of my cloak, she moaned satisfactorily, probably thinking it was seductive, but it just made her seem like a dog which lost its genitals. I made a

tiny grunt of disgust and pushed her off me. Adjusting my robes a little, I proceeded to march out of the carriage. And I nearly made it too.

Pansy flounced grumpily and pounced forward, dragging me backwards by my robes. Oh darn. Must get those changed… Before Pansy banged the door shut, I swore I saw

Granger laughing hysterically to herself in a corner. Oh, she was so dead…

"Drakie dear, where were you going? I wasn't finished…" She enveloped me with a flurry of sloppy kisses, drool al over my face. In utter revolt, I used her robes to rub the

spittle off my face. Unfortunately, that only brought my face closer to her…urm…gigantic chest. Pansy gave a squeal of delight and pressed me closer. I nearly fainted. Her flowery

perfume was getting to me and I couldn't help but let out a sneeze. Darn flowers. Luck did not seem to be on my side, because my lips puckered up against her thin cotton

material and it slipped down. My lips were pressed against her bare skin, in the valley between her...urm…never mind. I'm guessing you already know. Stupid Pansy took that

has an invitation to remove my robes and to huddle me closer. I tried and struggled to get off, but Pansy had a death grip on me, she must have learned kung-fu or something like it.

Just before things turned X-rated, the door slammed open, and I breathed a soft sigh of relief into Pansy's sweaty chest. She decided to be protective of me, and held my face

closer. Okay, now breathing was seriously becoming an issue. I tried to call for help, but instead only a muffled sound came out.

All of sudden, there was a distinct "click" of a camera and though between Pansy's…ahem…special features, I could still see the blinding flash. The room was deadly silent,

and even my flailing arms went limp in horror. Oh no…Pansy was going to have a field day. What were people going to say when they say my head practically stuck between her,

and my robes off and shirt buttons half undone? I moaned internally. Why? Why me? Then the silence was abruptly broken when Pansy burst into peals of laughter.

"Oh Granger…you better give me one of those by tomorrow. You know what? Make it a hundred blown up. My friends want to see them. You better." Pansy ordered, still

giggling girlishly. Who cared what she did…I stopped listening when she said the word Granger. My lifeline! She was my last resort. I was about to speak, but Granger beat me to

it. Again. I still remembered the lunch lady incident.

"Right Parkinson. You just keep dreaming. I'm not your servant so try finding your fellow pimp to help. You'd do better. Malfoy, as much as you'd enjoy staying, I'm

afraid I have to be the bearer of bad news. We have a prefect meeting." Granger retorted frostily. I smirked. Ooh yeah Granger…give her more…

"Wait…hold on…firstly, what's a…pimt? Is it like a bigger zit or something? And who said I was dreaming?.." Pansy wondered **dreamily. **I sighed, and I could almost see

Granger roll her eyes in exasperation. Being the sneaky Slytherin, this was the moment I was waiting for. When Pansy let go slightly. I could feel her grip loosening slightly as she

pondered and I wasted no time in leaping out of her arms and scurried out of the carriage, my shirt still flapping wildly. Granger, bless her soul, acted quickly and banged the door

shut, and clamped it up using her right hand, while the other motioning to me to get into any spare carriage. I desperately fled for one of them, and saw a door half open about three

carriages away. I peeked in, and luckily, there was not a single soul. I hopped in, waiting for Granger, to get in.

But…she still had not made her escape yet, for I could still hear the ear-piercing shrieks and vicious thumps. I poked my head out and flapping my hands, asked her to get the devil

out of there. She shook her head and wildly gestured to her bulky camera. I signalled for her to throw it over. Her eyes widened, then realizing that it was the only last option,

nodded briskly. With a single hand, she tossed it into the air and it made a beautiful arch in the air…before landing straight into my arms. I really wanted to laugh and say "I told

you so," but this was no time to gloat. It was a matter of pride now. I beckoned for her to make her exit now, but she held up her hand and wickedly cracked a smile so eerily

similar to my own. I halted, confused. She jerked her head in the direction of the shadow. Then, I realised what was happening. The shadow was growing larger, meaning Pansy

was retreating. It was her bull-charge and she was revving-up. Granger let go of the door and sprinted back the corridor. She was laughing so much, that she had to scramble into

the carriage. I quietly closed the carriage, concealing our hiding place from Pansy. Then, we waited.

"YEAA-OOOOOOOOW!" we heard the glass on the door shatter and through our own glass pane, we could see Pansy sail through the air, her war cry interrupted.

Unfortunately for her, there was a carriage directly opposite hers and she went crashing through the glass again and hit the side of the other carriage with a bewildered

"oof!" .The rest of the occupants' surprise were expressed when various yells of "Sweet Merlin!" and "Dear god!" were emitted. Oh…that was it…I couldn't take it

anymore. I sank to the floor, holding the sides of my stomach, nearly gasping with silent laughter. I rolled on the floor, thumping the carpeted ground with my palms, mouth open

wide, trying to stop the laughter. Then, I caught sight of Granger next to me, collapsed on the ground with tears of mirth streaming down her cheeks. (_Now, you might think that _

_it's completely impossible that two enemies are laughing together, but let me tell you from experience that a **common **cause unites even Voldermort and Harry.)_ We

both glanced at each other, and then promptly burst into another gale of uncontrollable laughter. Should someone have opened the door, they would have seen two teenagers curled

up on the floor practically howling with laughter. Outside, I heard people ask concernedly if Pansy was alright. By the looks of it, Granger heard it too, because she fell silent,

anticipating the response. Pansy ignored them, and we could hear her whimpering loudly.

"MY NAIL IS BROOOOOOOKEN!" the world fell gravely silent as she wailed her response. I swear, if the world knew the situation, Earth would have tears of hilarity

dripping down its surface. Granger sputtered next to me, and when I looked at her, she was suppressing fits of laughter, and I could see by the violent shaking of her shoulders. She

looked so comical that I had to give a holler of laughter.

That was enough to get us started again. We gasped for breath as we snorted with mirth. We laid there for seemingly eternity, our whoops slowly subsiding to giggles, then to

occasional outbursts of sniggers. We sighed simultaneously, not having the energy to move. I traced patterns lazily on the ret carpet, enjoying the tranquillity.

"Dear Lord!" Granger jumped upright, her eyes wide open. She checked her watch, an orange plastic number. I struggled up, as I realised what she was thinking about.

We stared at each other with doom in our eyes.

"Prefect meeting…"we whispered in unison, before bolting for the door.

Cast of story says: (Draco) Oh no! Not Pansy! Not her! (Hyperventilates)

Cast of story says: (Hermione) Distraughtsenses! What are you still doing here! WRITE! I need to get to prefect meeting!

Distraughtsenses says: Jeez…calm down, I swear, both of you need to do taichi or something…

Cast of story says: (both) Huh?What's taichi?

Distraughtsenses says: Sigh...

A/N: Yay! It's weird that I'm writing an author's note at the end, but anyway I'm in school and I'm editing this so, now I have 45 minutes to correct whatever is necessary. You'd

better be grateful because I'm missing my break to do this. My food...So, what I really want to say is thank you to xxThaliaxx for being the **only** one who bothered reviewing...and

so much for my friends doing thousands of review! One of my friends insist on having her name on the credits roll, so anyway, this is her name. Tancred, you happy now? She gave

the ingenous idea for the flaming eyeball things but according to her annoying, nagging presence, its an eyeball in a comet. Yeah, my eyeballs are about to be fried by her. Anyway,

Thalia, isn't that name a greek god/goddess? cool...That's about all, but just want more reviews!And did you notice the chapters all start with You?

Signed, Distraughtsenses


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